Contention
by frazee
Summary: Rating may get worse... dunno yet. Anyway, read author's note at the end! A slightly insane Ginny, Draco and Blaise like a shadow, hazy... distant. I remember seeing blood. They spoke to me, but I didn't hear them. What had I done?
1. Prologue

**D**isclaimer: As previously mentioned, in every single fanfiction I have ever written, I neither own, nor care to aknowledge, having anything to do with the creation and/or owning any of the characters and/or Harry Potter. **E**verything legally belongs to J. K. Rowling. TTFN, and read on.

Warning: For those who don't like **Draco/Ginny** fics where **Ginny is evil/insane**, do not read on.

Blood. Spilt blood. I remember seeing spilt blood, lying upon the floor. I remember staring at them in shock, their faces impassive as if they were wearing a mask to show the world. They spoke to me, a warning. I didn't hear it. Shock had taken control of my body and my mind reeled and spun as the metallic scent of blood floated through the air.

It seeped into my lungs and coated them in some kind of foul mixture of fear and disgust. It pulled at my heart, beating unnaturally fast. It ripped at my soul, silent and stolen with an emotion that I had not yet experienced. It tore at me, twisting, taunting, tearing. It ate me whole and devoured my world with me. Once so clear… now… lost? Unknown, indescribable, and so completely… silent.

Foul. Unspeakably foul. They spoke again, and again I did not hear. Blood, on the floor, in front of me. I remember spilt blood. Was it a dream? Was it a memory? There was spilt blood upon the floor, and they spoke to me. I did not hear.

My world, so carefully planned out and described in full. My world, so distinctive and controlled. My world, once so… perfect?

It was gone. I remember, I lost it, that night, spilt blood upon the floor and a face like a mask. And they spoke to me. And finally, I remember. Finally, I heard.

"Ginny? What have you done?"

**C**ontention  
By **R**iley **M**urphy  
(A.K.A. **k**eywi **k**itty)

A Prologue of Sorts  
(**read note at the end**)

I realized, I tore at their souls. I twisted, and taunted, and tore. Was I one of those, those with the masks that hid nothing but concealed everything? Was that blood on the floor… was it my doing?

Unspeakable. Completely, and utterly… unspeakable.

"Ginny, what have you done?"

"Ginny, are you all right?"

"Ms. Weasley, can you hear me?"

And I heard them. My mind was shattered, and my heart was broken, but I heard them. My stomach growled in sickness, but I heard them. My heart beat raced, and breathing abnormally heavy, and though I stared in one direction, I saw and heard them.

"Ms. Weasley?"

"Is she all right?"

"I think she's in shock."

"SHOCK! SHOCK?"

"Mr. Weasley! Contain yourself."

In my slightly disconnected mind, I thought of dogs. Dogs? They were barking. They were barking at someone… who were they barking at? My stomach continued to twist. Nothing made sense… who was I, again?

Had I been driven to the point of insanity? A question without an answer. I laughed. A answer I really didn't want. How funny. I wondered, would _he_ have found it funny?

I felt myself grimace. There was blood upon the floor. Was it his blood? Could it have been his blood? I looked down at my hands. Drenched? In red? Dear god, what had I done? Did I care?

"Ms. Weasley, can you hear me?"

"Virginia?"

"STAY OUT OF THIS, _SNAKE_!"

A crash. And the dogs were barking again. I laughed, and felt stares grace me.

"Oh Ginny." I heard a sob. It was a girl, with brown hair. Curly brown hair, pulled away from her. She was really quite pretty. "Ginny, what have you done?"

What had I done? …what had I done?

"Whose blood was that, on the ground?" I asked. I felt distant, as if in a dream.

"Ms. Weasley?"

Another bark.

"Whose blood was that, on the ground?" I asked. Numb. I was numb.

"Ginny?"

…Ronald? My brother. Where was he? I saw him, I heard his voice. He was distant. Why couldn't I feel him there? Where was he?

"Ginny, do you hear me?"

Ronald… I smiled. Ronald…

"I hear everything." I replied, laughing at my own words. I saw silvery blond and raven black heads, distant and hazy. I heard a familiar chuckling.

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

Ronald. Was Ronald barking?

There was an argument. I stayed slightly, my subconscious and my conscious battling for control. Neither won. My mind… distance... I felt… distance….

"Ginny?"

"Whose blood was that on the floor?" I asked. The distance became clear. A numb, dumb-founded silence enfolded the room. Silver and raven, smirking with glee but silent as the grave… Ronald… silent…

The girl… with the brown hair… did I know her? There were others. A woman. Two women. And a man, older than time itself. Did I know them?

They seemed vaguely familiar. Dense, hazy. I remember them… I knew them, didn't I?

…who were they?

"Virginia?"

I twitched. That voice. It was a song. A song I knew, I reveled in. A shiver down my spine. A twist in my gut. I could literally feel my pulse quicken. My blood beneath my skin, pumping soundly in my veins….

"Draco?" I asked. I saw him nod, a smile on his face. He stood at the other end of the room, but I could feel him. Caressing, touching… Draco… silver….

But… the raven? Who was he?

"Shh…" I heard.

I sighed in content, knowledge seeping in my mind… Raven… Blaise? He was here too?

Dense, hazy… distant, but… right in front of me. I felt it, knew it, tasted it… that blood… I knew what I had done.

"Whose blood was that, spilt on the ground?" I asked once more. I saw everyone, even silver and raven, Draco and Blaise, look between each other. A small smile came to my lips as they spoke the words…

"Harry Potter's."

**End Trans**

**A/N**: Yes, I am insane. Yes, so is Ginny. Yes, I killed Harry. Yes, you may flame me endlessly.  
No, this is not where it ends. Insanity can never end. MWAHAHAHA! Ahem, seriously though. I spent so long reading those dark fics featuring Ginny, Draco, and Blaise (see dracademented), that when I settled down and quit daydreaming to write another chapter to Missing Her (my only-slightly-angsty-fic about Wufei and Meiran, and how she's gone and now he's in love with Sally Po – see Gundam Wing), what came into my head was this useless drivel.  
Well, to say it came into my head would be an exaggeration. I started writing, and this came out. Maybe I should stop reading those dark fics? Or maybe not. Whatever. Flame me, praise me. I really don't care. For those who run in my circles and enjoy those fics (see dracademented for truly good fiction in this such area), and like this or would like to read me, review and I'll get back to you. For those who don't… why bother flaming me? If you don't like this fiction, you obviously wouldn't have gotten this far into it. Next time, if you hate it so much, close the window and go back to Harry Potter fanfiction.


	2. Sleepless Night

Disclaimer: I do not own and did not create Harry Potter. I do not own and did not create any of the characters from Harry Potter. Everything legally belongs to J. K. Rowling, except, perhaps, my plot – which I'm sure has probably been used and twisted before. Therefore, in reality, I don't anything… how sad!

To _darkangel1_: LOL Thanks, I'm happy I lightened your day! Hope you like chapter 2!

To _YoshimiWolfspaw_: You don't have to tell me. Technically, I didn't finish reading book 5. I couldn't stand it – yes, Harry has finally become a teenager, but he's become a total ass as well. It was horrible. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is going to be very interesting.

Who doesn't love a good fic which features character death? (die, Harry, die)

-Earlier That Year-

"Ginny? Ginny?"

From the day I came to Hogwarts, something was different. They spoke my name, a curse, they spat. Each time I wrote in that diary my head spun. Tom Riddle was my friend, wasn't he? It was maddening. Sometimes, I could feel him… inside my head. Did I know him?

"Ginny?"

I sighed.

"Yes, Ron?" I asked. I looked toward my brother. He stared at me, as if I was a ghost.

Ever since I had come to Hogwarts, I had been different. Different than I am. Different than I was. I was always changing. There were those who spoke the name of 'Weasley' as if it were a curse to mankind.

Sometimes, in the past, I remember feeling the same way myself. I had hurt, then. I hurt now. My past was a web, tangled and twisted, but in a pattern. Much like that of a spider.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Of course I'm okay." I replied. Was something wrong? "Why wouldn't I be okay?" I asked, uncertainly.

"You seem… distant."

Ever since I had to Hogwarts, I was different. The houses… I remember what the sorting hat told me. Was I really all that different? Red hair, pale as the moon…

Before I had come to Hogwarts, I remember my mother and father telling me stories. They were stories of… me? Yes, me. They were stories me, when I was younger. A baby, barely a toddler. Bad things would happen.

Of course, bad things happened with all of the Weasley children, especially the twins. But they always told me the nice stories. I heard the others from… how did I know the stories? I shook my head, my thoughts scattered and my mind on something it shouldn't be on. In one sentence, I could summon my entire existence:

I was different.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ron asked. He was frowning. I nodded.

"I'm fine."

"Because, you know, you can talk to me about it if you're not." Ron said quickly. No, I was fine. I felt fine.

"I'm fine."

"Okay…" he said, seemingly dropping the issue. I could tell he was still worried. I could feel the times that he stopped what he was doing, every few moments, and looked over at me with a frown on his face. Was something wrong?

I shook my head. Nothing was wrong. My mind had begun to wander again.

Contention  
By Riley Murphy  
(A.K.A. keywi kitty)

Chapter 1  
Sleepless Night

A flash of silver and black. Pale silver, and raven black. Ginny smiled. Silver and Raven… how odd. Her smile faded quickly, however, as she looked upon the faces of two people who had made her existence, and her family's, hell. Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. What did they want? Or had they come to taunt her, as they usually did?

"Weasley, I could tell it was you the moment I-"

Was Draco talking? I blocked him out of my mind and went back to my studies. I couldn't understand what the two of them would be doing in the library, anyhow. They never did any of their homework. They always had someone else do it. And no one protested. It was exactly the opposite. People almost seemed honored at the chance to do the homework of the two gods of Slytherin house.

Gods? Did she just call them gods? Was she being sarcastic, or had she meant that? Ever since that damned diary, she wasn't entirely sure. Oh dear, was Draco talking to her? She'd forgotten.

"WEASLEY?"

Apparently, he didn't take too well to being ignored. He slammed a fist down on the book she was reading. Ginny didn't even flinch or jump in shock.

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"_Ginny, are you insane?"_

"_Yes, I think I am."_

_Three sickly sweet laughs. A shiver ran down Harry's spine. Three sickly sweet laughs. What was Ginny doing with Draco and Blaise? Just what the hell was she doing?_

"_Ginny, stop." Harry commanded, trying to knock some sense into the girl. He was pleading to her humanity. Ginny stopped her motions, and Blaise and Draco stared at her for a moment, questioning her motives and loyalties in their minds. Did Ginny still have some humanity left in her?_

"_Why?" Ginny asked. She grinned, and Draco and Blaise grinned._

"_Because, what you're doing is wrong. What's happened to you?" Harry sobbed._

_Ginny thought for a moment. What had happened to her?_

"_Words cannot begin to describe." Ginny told him. She smiled at the two Slytherin boys. _

_Three sickly sweet laughs._

And Ginny woke up.

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"Is there something you two want, or can I go back to what I was doing?" Ginny asked, ignoring the fist and the torn pages in front of her. Draco growled.

Ever since Ginny had come to Hogwarts, something in her had changed. The only girl born into a large family, all who attended her school, shadowed by a thousand different tales and adventures. She had changed. Somehow, she had changed.

Ginny wondered if anyone else could tell. Would they have known she had dreams… dreams of killing…? What had she dreamt of last night again?

Bittersweet. Or was it sickly sweet?

"All right, Weasley, we'll play it your way." Blaise said, snapping her out of her reverie. It was that same reverie that she slipped into so easily these days.

"What?" she asked. Blaise and Draco frowned. Or glared. Could it have been a glare?

Gods. She was doing it again. Escaping? Or was it being pulled in… Ginny wasn't sure she could tell. Could they tell? Gods, could Zabini and Malfoy tell? What would they think? Would they know what was wrong with her?

"I sa-"

"Do you see me?" she asked. She'd interrupted Blaise. Blaise glared at her.

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course I can bloody see you."

Snap. Ginny flinched. Snap?

"Weasley, what the hell's wrong with you!" Draco snapped. Ginny stared at the boy.

Snap. Snap?

"Wrong? There's nothing _wrong_ with me." Ginny replied, her voice cutting like a thousand knives. She thought she saw Draco flinch, as if he really had been cut by a thousand knives.

Knives… knives were…. Ginny remembered knives. Her mother used them, when cooking. They were sharp, and she had been cut by them a few times. Accidentally of course.

"Did I hurt you?" Ginny asked.

Why was she asking? Even Blaise and Draco frowned.

"Are you insane?" Blaise asked.

"_Are you insane?"_

"…_Yes, I think I am."_

"No." Ginny answered defiantly. Now where had that come from? It was familiar. Hazy, like a dream.

After a brief look between each other, Blaise and Draco wandered away. Ginny went back to her book.

She had been different, especially since that diary. Tom Riddle… a name Ginny knew better than her own. Had he done something to her? Ginny frowned, scrunching her eyes as she read the words. Different….

What was wrong with being different?

"Weasley's finally lost her mind." Draco muttered as he walked away, loud enough for Ginny to hear.

"Never had a mind to lose." Blaise protested.

Ginny sighed and stared down at her book.

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Over the next few days, Ginny felt spacey. She chuckled. Spacey… such a fun word. But spacey didn't exactly describe it. Yes, she was different… but something had changed. It was a different Ginny was not used to. Her mind would stray from the task at hand and she would find herself babbling incoherently about things that made no sense.

It might have been so bad, were she not getting stares, and sometimes glares, from the entire student when she accidentally castrated a fellow Gryffindor for no apparent reason. Of course, it probably didn't help that when she went to the hospital wing to see how he was doing and apologize, she interrupted the operation to re-grow the boy's testicles (which must've been somethin' to see… LOL), and then nearly destroyed half the wing after she was allowed in and the boy called her a freak.

The oddest part of all of it was that Ginny didn't really seem to care. She just blinked and sighed at the wreckage that was once the hospital wing and walked off. She didn't even notice when she gave the boy the finger… to which he swiftly replied something along the lines of:

"_Not even in my nuts were working right!"_

Of course, Ginny ignored him.

She went beyond the limits of surprised when she saw Draco and Blaise stealing glances at her every now and then. Blaise would watch her movements daily and grin slightly every time she spaced out. Draco, however, would watch everything she did. It went on, sometimes for hours on end – and every time he would try to catch her gaze, keeping their locked for as long as possible.

Then he would smirk, sometimes wink, and go back to what he was doing.

_Ignore him…_ her mind told her.

It was on a particularly sleepless night that Ginny looked around the room and realized it was far later than she should have been up, but she couldn't sleep at all. There were three hours left until sunrise and she hadn't slept at all. That wasn't exactly a good sign.

Sighing, she stood up and rummaged around her trunk quietly, pulling out a black cloak. She decided that perhaps a small walk would help her sleep. In the very least, it would keep her from lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, and twitching excessively. She would like that.

Later on, she would realize that going out of the portrait hole and wandering aimlessly was a sure way to get caught by Filch, and it wasn't the smartest thing to do. Plus, she would run into that damned cat. She hated that cat.

Wait… later on, she would realize…? Where was she going anyway?

That didn't make much sense. The garden? It was still dark enough, she doubted anyone would be able to see her.

That's where she was going! The garden….

Why?

Ginny Weasley was about to step out of the portrait hole when she felt a sharp twist in her gut. She struggled not to whimper, and covered her mouth to keep a noise from escaping, as she doubled over. It felt like cramps, only it was sharper. Sharper, and… jagged? It hurt, that was all she knew for sure.

Then it was gone. Completely gone. Not a trace – or even the feeling – of having something even remotely painful or draining happen to her. Now that was odd… Why was that happening?

She opened the portrait hole and stepped out, looking left and right to make sure the coast was clear.

She was glad to find, though, that Filch had just passed and was walking at least two or three yards away from her, without that bloody cat to glare at her and out her. She smirked and walked in the other direction, having successfully escaped one of the most annoying people she had ever met.

She walked the halls, down the stairs, around the corners, and finally came to the secret passage to the outside, where she could go straight into the gardens and fall into the flower beds. She could sleep then, for sure.

It didn't occur to her, however, that she hadn't really known the way down there…

After inhaling the scents of a thousand different kinds of flowers, she fell back into an empty patch so that she crush them the buds, and closed her eyes. She fell asleep almost instantly.

When her eyes opened again, she found herself looking up into the familiar face of Draco Malfoy, blond bangs falling into his eyes. She glared up at him.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Draco simply grinned.

End Chapter… 1? Yeah, 1!...

A/N: Sorry. I wanted this up yesterday, but I'm an insomniac – so while my muse was dead at midnight last night, it came back around noon, only to have me fall asleep and wake just in time for my dentists' appointment. It's horrible, my mouth is still sore from that shitty needle. GRRR!

Anyway, remember to review. Hey, guess at what's up with Ginny even! COME ON! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO! MWAHAHAHAHA!  
Only seven pages, but I promise, it'll pick up!


	3. Surreal

Disclaimer: I do not own and did not create Harry Potter and/or any of the characters from the books/the books themselves. Everything legally belongs to J.K. Rowling. That being said, read on fellow lose- I mean…. Fellow Harry Potter reader…. Yup, that's what I meant. :)

When he grinned down at me, I couldn't tell whether I should be glad or worried. Draco Malfoy had a glint in his eye. It was mischievous and demonic. Oddly, it was something I identified with. It made no sense.

And yet, there he was. Why in the hell was Draco Malfoy looking down at me as if I were his friend, that stupid grin on his face? It made me want to punch him.

I sighed. On the bright side of things, my mind wasn't wandering once again.

"What the hell do you want?" I snapped. The wind picked up and my fierce red hair blew into my face. I reached up and brushed it away, finding Malfoy with an odd expression on his face. It was strangely distorted, as if he was trying to hide something – or perhaps he was trying to show something?

"Tell me, _Red_, why are you lying out here, in the gardens?" Malfoy asked. "Did they get tired of you up in the house?"

_Red?_ Now I'm Red? It was a step up from his usual taunts, but I wasn't quite sure exactly how much.

_How odd, _I thought, _that he's even bothering with me…_

"None of your business." I replied simply. That familiar sneer I had seen so often since coming to Hogwarts graced his facial features.

"Now, see… that's where you're wrong.

Contention  
By Riley Murphy

Part 3  
Surreal

"What are you talking about?" Ginny snapped. "Why in the hell would I even conside-"

"It's a lot better of an offer than you'll get from dear Pothead, I can assure you." Draco interrupted, glaring. "Do you honestly think that they even know, or _care?_ The bloody 'golden trio' is far too busy saving the world."

"And I suppose you do?" she replied. His words stung and her heart sank. It wasn't meant to be this way. Ginny knew that in her heart. She wasn't meant to become what she was – but then, she wasn't entirely sure what she had become either. So how could she have felt so strongly towards something she couldn't define, let alone explain?

"Better than they do."

"What exactly could you know?" she screeched. Her anger was rising. Draco Malfoy grinned. His pale blond hair was unkempt, and falling out of place, Ginny noticed. _He's been contemplating this._

But how could she know that?

"More than you think. I know, for example, that you were the one to open the chamber of secrets. I know that for a weasel, well…" he trailed off, looking her up and down. Ginny got the distinct impression that if she knew in great depth exactly what the expression '_undressing with the eyes_' meant, it would be what he was doing at that exact moment. "You don't exactly fit with the rest of them."

She struggled to keep her anger under control. Granted, some of what he was saying was true, but it wasn't right. How could he know such things, when she knew so little about everything that was happening? It felt wrong.

"I'm failing to see whatever point you're _attempting_ to make." she replied. His grin grew.

"My _point_, Miss Weasley, is that you're a holding onto something that's actually beneath you." he told her. She glared at him. "You could be great. Greater than the golden trio could ever be, or even imagine."

"Such pretty words." Ginny practically sang. "It's too bad your words mean nothing."

"Do they?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. He took a step nearer to her, brushing back that one piece of bright red hair that fell into her face, obscuring his view of her eyes, behind her ear.

"Talk is cheap." Ginny replied curtly. Draco's grin grew wider, if that was possible. He leaned down; his face next to hers and his lips less than an inch from her ear.

"But talk is all you are."

Ginny gasped as she heard his words, trying to hide her reactions to feeling his breath brush her skin and send shivers down her spine. His words cut deeply inside of her. She felt the familiar sting of tears coming to her eyes. He moved away and stared down at her.

"Or maybe that's what you want, to be overshadowed and underappreciated. To never be noticed by your dear Harry. To never be noticed by anyone? Do they even know they you exist? Or that day after day you suffer?" Draco asked. He was circling her as he spoke.

"They have other things." Ginny replied.

"Heh, you mean that little drama from the summer, when Harry and Ron both fell for that mudblood filth you envy?" Draco asked. Ginny's glare turned murderous as he mentioned Hermione.

"You bastard."

"He's right though."

Ginny swirled around to find herself staring at Blaise Zabini, lounging against the stone wall at the edge of the garden.

"Where the hell did you come from?" she asked.

"I've been here the whole time."

"We're offering you a chance to be a part of something you could never imagine. So much power… we can teach you things even Dumbledore's in no position to stop or control." Draco whispered against her hair. Ginny looked uncertainly between the two.

"You two are just trying to confuse me." she accused. Draco and Blaise looked wounded for a moment. It was all mocking of course. They recovered too quickly for it to be anything else.

Right?

"Think what you want. But by this time tomorrow, your mind will be made up – and we'll be seeing you in this garden once more." Blaise replied. He and Draco wandered off to skip some class. Probably to nick some breakfast off the house elves, even.

Classes began over an hour ago, yet Ginny was standing in a garden, staring at the stone wall Blaise so recently occupied, words reverberating in her skull.

Draco knew more than anyone should have, that much was certain. And his words… they voiced exactly the way she had been feeling for so long, she had to admit. But there was no way she would ever join Malfoy and Zabini in their sick rituals. She still wasn't entirely sure what they had offered her, but she knew it was something she was better off not being a part of. Wasn't it?

Could they really teach her things? Things even Albus Dumbledore couldn't put a stop to? How was that even possible? Better yet, why did they choose her? She wasn't special, and she didn't have any extraordinary power. Sure, her mother had told her tales of when she was little, and had caused many catastrophes as a child, but that didn't mean that…

Who was he to tell her she was cheap? She wasn't cheap. She was smart, and she worked hard, and was pre-

She was smart, and she was determined. And Harry, Hermione, and her family _did_ care for her, and what happened to her.

They just didn't always have the time to show it.

Okay, that just made it sound worse. Family should've made time, dammit! This wasn't supposed to be happening! Draco's words were not supposed to be confusing her and making her rethink everything the way that they were.

Damn Draco and damn Blaise too. They were twisting everything around, and she wasn't going to let them. She was going to get through this, no matter where it led her.

Though Ginny was uncertain about how it would end, she knew one thing. She would not be returning to the garden. Ever.

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"Hey guys." Ginny greeted Harry, Ron, and Hermione as she sat down at the lunch table. Harry gave her a polite nod, Hermione gave her a smile, and Ron said hello.

Ginny's eyes caught a familiar head of annoying dark hair across the room, and found herself looking at Blaise, who was grinning at her. She glared at him and went about to getting her food.

"So… how were classes?" Ginny asked. She chewed lightly on the piece of bread she had spread butter on.

"They're not over yet." Ron said.

"We still have potions." Harry groaned. Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but Hermione beat her to that act, saying something about Snape being a source of intelligence and wisdom. Albeit, misguided, but a source none the less.

Through out lunch, as she listened to them talk, she found herself sneaking glances across the tables at the two boys who'd appeared out of nowhere to severely piss her off earlier.

They promised power, they promised knowledge. It was nothing. She had power, and she had knowledge.

…didn't she?

She did. It was knowledge. For some strange reason, she didn't seem to need knowledge though. She didn't need to think. It had been that way for a while. From the subtle feeling of something not ending well, to which turn to take and what not to say. It wasn't knowledge, exactly. A feeling or an instinct… a sense…

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_A feeling of complete happiness washed over Ginny. It was something she hadn't known for a while. Suddenly, it was there. It was in the two arms, wrapping themselves around her. It was in the warmth against her back. It was in the feeling of skin against bare skin._

"_How do you feel?" asked a husky voice belonging to the person holding her. She nearly melted at the sound._

"_Terrible." Ginny replied, her lips curving into a smile. The person chuckled. "I've never felt so alive."_

_She turned to see blond hair brushing her shoulder and into the dark eyes staring back at her, the person's head leaning down against her shoulder. _

"_And what about you-know-who?" Draco asked. Ginny's eyes flashed crimson before she regained control once more. Her grin grew wide, giving her a look of pure evil._

"_Tomorrow, it will all be taken care of." Ginny told him._

"_Excellent. And the others?" Draco replied. She giggled lightly._

"_We have a special surprise for them." _

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Ginny's eyes opened. Not in shock, as she expected. She was not surprised, or even disgusted at the images swirling around, tracing the depths of her mind. She wasn't entirely sure as to why she woke; only that she had.

It made very little sense, and as Ginny thought it over, she could only come to the conclusion that she was dreaming of Draco because of the events when she had woken in the garden.

Of course, the more she thought of it, the more it seemed less and less like it a dream. It was something different, yet equally profound. Wait… profound? Had she really used that word?

Well, apparently she had. She sat up in her bed, hearing the small snores and the breathing of the other girls whom she shared the room with. She grabbed a ponytail holder from off her bedside table and pulled her hair back, seeing small strands which had begun to lighten from the sun and form highlights fall randomly.

She leaned against the headboard and stared at the ceiling in thought for a few moments.

Draco Malfoy had made her a deal. He'd offered to teach her the dark arts, after which he had called her names and tore her to pieces.

It was a manipulating tactic, she knew that much. It was used in the muggle military. Tear people to shreds, until there's nothing left, and rebuild them the way you want. That's exactly what it was. Of course, being able to recognize it didn't exactly enable her to put a stop to it. She could see it for what it was, but it hadn't stopped her from feeling like any of it was true.

Because that was how she felt sometimes, and that ferret knew exactly the right buttons to push to make her angry. The right buttons to push to make her question everything – and that wasn't good.

Or was it? Granted, she didn't like that Draco knew exactly how to manipulate her, but was it possible that something good could come out of it in the end?

Her mind told her no. It was that same kind of knowledge that she couldn't describe. But her heart told her a different story, and her gut instincts seemed to burn like a wildfire. There was more to what they were doing. They wanted something from her. She could tell that.

The question remained, what?

Then there was the matter that it wasn't only Draco – which she kept forgetting. Whatever it was, Blaise was in on it too. Somehow, that didn't exactly uplift Ginny. Oh wait, had anything they said uplifted her? That was an easy question to answer. NO!

And now, there she was, arguing with herself. Accept their offer, or turn them down? Accept, or decline?

Didn't she already decide this? Earlier, after Draco had ambushed her? Hadn't she already said that she wasn't going back? It simply wasn't logical.

Of course, that's what magic was, wasn't it? That which defies all logic? It's not there's a logical explanation for taking out one's wand, whispering a few words, and having the world twist it to your whims?

With these thoughts in mind, Ginny did come to one decision – logic seriously sucked.

She sighed and pulled her legs out from under the blankets, stood up, and crept out of the room, being careful so that she didn't wake anyone. That was the last thing she needed, someone to disturb her thoughts. That really wouldn't be very good. She could barely figure out exactly what her thoughts were and what they meant at the moment. It could only make matters worse if someone else tried to figure them out for her, which they would surely do as she crept down the stairs to the common room.

As she got down the stairs however, she found that she was not the only one awake at the moment. Sitting on the couch by the fire in the common room was none other than Harry Potter – the boy who lived and her ex-crush.

She was about to turn around and go back up the stairs to her bed again, if only she her step hadn't squeaked and Harry's head turned to find her trying to get back up.

"Ginny? What are you doing awake?" Harry asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." she stated, turning around sharply. Harry grinned.

"Couldn't sleep." he replied.

"Me neither." Ginny said. She took one more look at the door to her room and walked down the steps, taking up a seat on the couch opposite the one Harry was sitting on.

"So why can't you sleep?" Harry asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

Ginny shrugged, not sure exactly how to reply to that.

"Just… thinking." Ginny replied. "You?"

Harry looked hesitant for a moment, before sighing.

"I'm going to ask Hermione to marry me." Harry told her. Ginny's jaw literally dropped. "Hey, don't look at me like that!" Harry protested. "I'm serious."

"Sorry, it's just… that's big. I mean, you guys still have another year of school left." Ginny said. Harry nodded.

"I know, but… I just… she's the one." Harry told her. Ginny nodded, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Here she was, talking to the boy she used to follow around like a lost puppy about him asking one of her best friends to marry him… it all seemed more than slightly surreal. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"_What are you, crazy?"_

"_Maybe…"_

Ginny ignored the sudden thoughts that came to mind and shook her head no.

"I think you're perfectly sane."

Harry smiled.

"Can I ask you for some advice?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded.

"Sure, what?" he asked. Ginny twitched uncomfortably.

"Well… suppose there's this boy..." Ginny began, seeing Harry grin when she mentioned a boy.

"Do you like him?" Harry asked. Ginny thought about how to answer that for a moment.

"Not exactly… not many people like him that much, to be honest." Ginny replied. Harry frowned.

"Okay, there's a boy?" Harry prompted. Ginny sighed.

"Well, suppose he makes you this _really_ big offer, and you don't know what to say. How do you decide?" Ginny asked. Harry laughed.

"A boy asked you out, didn't he?" Harry asked. Ginny, thinking that this was less harmful than the truth, didn't agree or disagree.

"Maybe." she replied.

"So, you're not sure about him?" Harry asked. Ginny nodded. "Well, what does your heart tell you?"

"My heart?"

"Yeah." Harry replied, watching her carefully. Ginny closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment. Her mind told her no, but Ginny wasn't entirely sure what her heart told her to do. Yep, logic seriously sucked. She sighed.

"I dunno… I guess, give it a chance." she told him. Harry smiled.

"There ya go." Harry said. "Well, thanks." he yawned slightly. "Well, I'm off to bed. You should probably do the same, there's a few more hours until school starts."

Ginny watched as Harry wandered off to sleep.

Now, Harry knew exactly what he had wanted… to marry Hermione. Why couldn't she make such decisions so easily? The only thing she was sure of was that she was not going to be able to sleep.

She went up the stairs and grabbed her cloak from her room, ran down the steps and out of the portrait hole. She followed the same route she had forgotten from the previous night and made her way to the garden to wait.

She was surprised to find, however, that Draco and Blaise were already there, waiting for her.

"Hello pet." Blaise greeted, grinning. Draco nodded.

"Teach me."

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A/N: W00T! YAYS! Chapter three is done. I meant to have this up a while ago, so sorry about that. It's been nutty since I got back from my Uncle's. I've been cramming for school because I've got to finish these courses by June.

Anyway, I won my first award for my graphic skillz that other day. I placed third! YES! In honor of this, I made banner-image things to go with the fanfic. I would post the url in here, but it never comes out right. Whatever. Review and leave me your email if you wanna see!


	4. Lessons

Disclaimer: I do not own and did not create whatever this fanfiction is about. I also make no claim to the music, quotes, etc. etc. etc. used in the story. That being said, if I _did_ do/owned/whatever any of that stuff, just what do you think the odds are that I would be writing a fanfic about it? Honestly, people, get your brains straight! Of course, then you might not read… so just… use your common sense…

**firefly820**: Nice to hear, I hope you keep reading! It'll definitely be Draco/Ginny, but we'll have to see about Draco/Blaise/Ginny… MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA! (That's code for: if I can swing, expect me to work it in…) I think I've already said it, but if you're looking for some good Draco/Blaise/Ginny, check out Dracademented. She should be listed in my favorite authors list (if not, my favorite stories list)… course, you'll probably enjoy hers more and completely abandon me… (sobs) YOU'RE SO CRUEL! LOL

**Helldarkangel1**: I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long for the next chapter! I'll try to make it longer this time, and thanks for the compliments on my graphics! (hugs) So happy… oh so happy….

And now…

Contention  
By… me  
Part 3  
Lessons

Ginny Weasley lay back in her bed, the blankets pulled over her face. She tossed and turned, trying to sleep. It was earlier that morning that she had decided to learn the dark arts from two of the most hated students in the history of Hogwarts. Surprisingly, her mind wasn't wandering… completely… Instead, it stayed on task. The fact that that task seemed to be human disembowelment or other such practices made no never mind.

Her first lesson had been… unsettling. With Draco's words still ringing in her ears, her mind continually turned over the history of the dark arts. It was a history she wasn't entirely sure was true, but that she was coming to believe with every time she thought through the process in her head.

It began ages upon ages upon ages ago, before there were even muggles to 'taint the earth' as Draco put it. His voice came strongly to her ears, as if he were in her room, beside her bed, speaking them.

"_In the beginning, they were worshipped as gods. They had many names, and many great powers, and they were known through out the world. Some were loved, and some were feared." Draco told her. She heard Blaise laugh from the large window, where he was lounging. _

"_Hell, they were all feared." Blaise commented. Draco nodded._

"_Worshipped as gods?" Ginny asked, confused. "If they were worshipped as gods, then…"_

"_What happened to them?" Blaise finished for her. She nodded. "Well pet, you'll have to wait 'till Draco gets there." he sneered. Ginny glared at him. She turned back to the one she considered to be her mentor out of the two. Blaise seemed to be the comic relief._

"_The muggles grew in numbers, rapidly." _

"_Almost like rabbits." Blaise muttered to himself, grinning. "One plus one is two. Two and two became four."_

"_Soon, the muggles that loved and feared them were starting to rise against them. Times began to change. When, in the beginning, they were worshipped, they were turned from for another."_

"_Another god?"_

"_Indeed. The god that inspired what the muggles call 'the witch trials'." Blaise said before he spat in disgust. _

"_What happened?" Ginny asked._

"_There was a cataclysm." Draco replied. "Many of our people were murdered; some were lost, some turned against us and hid in the crowds, pretending to be muggles." _

"_But most of us," Blaise said, sitting up and turning to her, "Most of us left. They found themselves at the top of Olympus, the land they had claimed and raised their families on."_

"_In one day, Olympus sank into the ocean." Draco told her. Ginny's eyes narrowed._

"_But what about the ones who ran?" she asked. Draco and Blaise looked between each other. "And what happened to them? Where are they now?" _

It was at the sharp sound of a piercing scream that Ginny jumped up in bed, looking around the room and trying to find the source. She grimaced. _What the fuck?_ _Doesn't anybody else hear it?_

It was strange, but the rest of her roommates seemed completely unaffected, as though they hadn't heard it. She was about to lean back and try and sleep, dismissing it, when she suddenly heard it again…

"GINNY!" it screamed. Ginny looked around wildly. It had to be coming from somewhere! She tossed her legs over the side of her bed, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and instantly went about looking for the source. Through unknown corridors and places she hoped she could find her way back from, she kept turning randomly as the screaming grew louder. It grew more and more deafening by the second, making it harder for Ginny to concentrate on her task. Hell, it was hard just to stand. She found herself leaning against a wall, covering her ears in pain and small, crystal tears streaming down her cheeks as it grew louder and louder.

"GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNY!" it shrieked. Ginny screamed in pain and rocked back and forth, gritting her teeth as her breathing grew more ragged. She shook her head, trying to sort out her thoughts. _Have to- … HELP!_ The shrieking continued, echoing through the stone walls of a hallway Ginny, had she been able to form much of a thought, guess very few knew about aside from her brothers. "It hurts…" she cried to herself. She let out a deep breath, preparing.

"GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!_" _she screamed as loud as she could. It was strange, then. Suddenly, at her command it seemed, everything was silent. Tentatively, she pulled her hands away from her ears. She looked around for a moment, trying to sort out what had happened. _Where did it go?_

"Does it matter?" she asked herself aloud. "Shouldn't you just be glad that it's _gone_?" It struck Ginny then… did she hear herself? "Shit, shit, shit…" she murmured. She couldn't hear!

She reached her hands back behind her, steadying herself, as she pulled herself back up. For a long moment, she leaned back against the wall, attempting to relax and taking slow breaths. Her ears ached, her head felt as though someone were trying to pound out her eyeballs with a sludge hammer from inside her skull, and as she wiped away the tears she was sure that the day was going to be difficult. Ginny stared up at the wall. _What the hell am I going to tell Draco…?_

Ginny stuck her arm out and leaned against the wall as she began to walk down the hall. It was been a strange couple of days. First, she actually had a civil conversation with Draco. That in itself was truly something she had never expected to happen. Second, she talked to Blaise too… As she continued to muse on the duo who had taken up teaching her the dark arts, she concluded that Draco and Blaise were not all bad – and you couldn't seem to have one without the other. They seemed somehow… inseparable. Draco was too serious and Blaise was too… Ginny laughed. Blaise was crazy, plain and simple. There was no other way to put it.

"So…" she mused. "Exactly where does that put me?" she asked herself, grinning. "Am I the faithful student, or the pet project the two have chosen to play mind games with?"

"I guess I'll never know." Ginny answered herself. "It's not as if I can even hear what I'm saying… Then again, I'm not sure I want to." she groaned as she stumbled down the halls. A few hours later, after classes had started, she would curse herself for that.

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"Ron! Ron!" Hermione called after her friend, running to their table at lunch. She bumped into Dean Thomas, knocking the pair down on the floor with Hermione on top, who stared down at Dean stupidly with a bit of a blush on her face. "You're not Ronald…." she stated.

"No…" he confirmed, a blush coming to his cheeks. Hermione laughed nervously,

"Uh… sorry about that." she told him, pushing up with her arms to lift herself straight off him. Hermione headed a few more seats down the table to where Harry and Ron sat. "RONALD!" she screamed, bashing him on the head with her latest copy of the Daily Prophet.

"OW!" Ron screamed. He looked over at her, his face as red as his hair in anger. "What'd you do that for?" Hermione glared down at him.

"Your own sister is in the hospital wing without the ability to hear and you're yelling at me for hitting you with a newspaper!" she snapped in shock. "_I'm_ the one who needs to sort out her priorities?"

"Well, you _are_ the only _her_ in that group." came a casual drawl from behind. Hermione grimaced and rolled her eyes, determined to ignore the ever-annoying Blaise Zabini. It usually didn't work, but she had to at least _try_.

"Gin's WHAT!" he yelled. "What the hell happened?"

"She's been hearing voices…" came the sing-song voice of Blaise as he walked by. Hermione frowned as she determined that Blaise' voice didn't actually sound too bad. _Maybe Ginny's got it lucky not being able to hear…_

"Shove off, Zabini." Harry glared. Blaise stopped and looked back at the trio, smirking.

"What's the matter Potter? Jealous?" he taunted. "I thought you heard voices all the time."

"Did you want something, or have you just decided to randomly fling insults at us?" Hermione snapped, turning her glare on the Slytherin. Blaise' smirk grew.

"Oh, Granger, I wouldn't _fling_ a dung bomb at you." he retorted. Hermione brushed off the comment. "It just so happens I was on my way to the hospital wing." Ron jumped out of his seat.

"FOR WHAT?" he demanded. Blaise sighed, bored.

"Oh, I thought I'd see a good friend." he replied. "The fact that she's related to you is strictly coincidental." Ron's glare grew murderous, giving Blaise as the more pleasure as he continued. "In fact, I wonder how she'd feel about changing her name…"

"SHE WOULDN'T!" Ron screamed. He'd had enough. He jumped forward, attacking Blaise, and landing punches randomly.

"Ronald!" Hermione screamed, staring down at the two. A group of Slytherins and Gryffindors instantly rushed over, some trying to pull the two apart and the others joining in on the fight. It seemed back sides had some hotheaded people in their group, itching for a fight and welcoming the chance to beat up a Gryffindor.

By the time Ron had thought to pull out his wand, Blaise had already done it and used at least two hexes on Ron alone. Harry ended up with a few more from the other Slytherins. A few of the Gryffindors weren't fairing too well, while the Slytherins were mostly fine except a select few who'd been the victims of a lucky shot. All in all, more than four students ended up with detention, and more than seven students were sent to the hospital wing – Harry and Ron included. Blaise had run off ahead, accompanied by a few other Slytherins Hermione recognized from their joint potions class, had run off ahead, avoiding the teachers entirely. She was still trying to figure out exactly how they had managed to disappear when she escorted Ron and Harry into the hospital wing, only to find that Blaise was sitting contentedly beside Ginny's bed, making jokes and faces at her while she laughed.

Hermione gasped in amazement. He… HE WAS COMPLETELY UNHARMED! Ron had a black eye, a bloody nose, and a few hexes to work off, Harry's lip was split and his head had been shrunk to the size of a peanut, and yet… Blaise had come out completely untouched?

_Of course…_ she mused to herself. _It is entirely possible that Blaise simply looks untouched because he made it here first and was healed. But… what does he want with Ginny?_

_Mind your own business, mudblood…_ she heard faintly. Hermione jumped and her eyes widened in shock. She watched Blaise carefully for a few moments, before walking over beside Harry. She sat down on the edge of his bed as Madame Pomphrey made her way over, not at all happy at having so many people suddenly appear and need treatment.

Ginny stared at her new… friend? while he made ridiculous faces and jokes that she knew she probably wouldn't have found so funny had she been able to hear them. She was right about Blaise being the comic relief - that was for sure.

**THUMP!** The doors suddenly burst open to reveal Draco Malfoy, instantly being glared at by over half the room – though Madame Pomphrey was not secretly hoping for his death, so much as wishing he would respect the patients more and _not_ break down the doors. He ignored them all, however, and made his way over to Ginny and Blaise. He looked down at Ginny and said something, though she was not entirely sure what. _As soon as this is over, I brush up on reading lips…_ Ginny suddenly had the strange feeling that she was not _entirely_ alone in her mind…

Blaise and Draco looked at each and began to converse, arguing, it seemed to Ginny. She wasn't entirely sure, because they usually had a sneer or a scowl for a face, and their faces hadn't changed except that there was a glint in Draco's eye she had never really seen or noticed before.

"Ginny?"

Ginny frowned. She had never seen it or heard it before, she was very sure that she wouldn't like the two of them fighting. A slight smile came to her lips. Last week, she wouldn't have cared. How odd one person can change in only a few days.

"Ginny?"

Draco and Blaise looked over at Ginny, frowning. She opened her mouth to ask what they were frowning about, though she was fairly certain she knew, and she wasn't sure the words even left her mouth.

"Ginny?"

She jumped at a tap on her shoulder and turned around to face Madame Pomphrey. She said something Ginny couldn't hear.

"Huh?" Ginny replied, not expecting an answer. Madame Pomphrey frowned and looked over at Ron as he came and sat by Ginny, on the opposite side of the bed that Blaise and Draco and sat.

"How's it look?" he asked. Madame Pomphrey sighed.

"She can't hear a word anyone says to her or any sound at all." Madame Pomphrey replied. Draco took one look at Ron and burst out laughing. Blaise joined him, along with the other Slytherins, as Harry and Hermione came over. The Gryffindors ignored them.

"So what does that mean?" Harry asked. Madame Pomphrey frowned.

"It means there's not really anything I can do." she explained. "Ginny's deaf."

"WHAT?" Ron asked.

"Apparently, it runs in the family…" Blaise muttered under his breath.

"H-how could this happen?" he asked, dumbstruck. "What happened to her?" Madame Pomphrey's frown grew.

"I don't know, she won't tell me." she answered. "I'm sorry, but… there's nothing really that I can do."

Ginny didn't have to be able to hear to know that a deadly silence spread over the group. Everyone was looking at her, or sharing looks between each other. Madame Pomphrey had her best 'trying-not-to-look-deathly-afraid' face on. Blaise had stopped his jokes and faces… and Draco. Draco was staring at her. Just staring. _What must he think of me now?_ she thought, staring up into his eyes. Crystal blue eyes…

_Nothing less than I thought of you before…_

_Where did that come from?_

"So, there's nothing we can do? She's just deaf?" Hermione asked. "Even the muggles have hearing aids to help. There's nothing?"

"Well…" Madame Pomphrey sighed. "There's a special doctor…"

Ginny's eyes slowly closed, feeling tired. She saw the others be shooed off by Madame Pomphrey, being able to hear her from memory saying something like 'she needs her rest'. She wasn't entirely sure she liked Draco and Blaise being shooed off. She had lessons! She didn't want them to think that… She wanted… she wanted them to sit with her….

Ginny rolled on her side and sighed, instantly falling asleep.

"_There was a cataclysm." Draco replied. "Many of our people were murdered; some were lost, some turned against us and hid in the crowds, pretending to be muggles." _

"_But most of us," Blaise said, sitting up and turning to her, "Most of us left. They found themselves at the top of Olympus, the land they had claimed and raised their families on."_

"_In one day, Olympus sank into the ocean." Draco told her. Ginny's eyes narrowed._

"_But what about the ones who ran?" she asked. Draco and Blaise looked between each other. "And what happened to them? Where are they now?" _

"_Tsk, tsk. Sigh, Draco. You've created a monster." Blaise commented. "So eager to learn." Ginny frowned and then glared at Blaise._

"_You're not going to tell me, are you?" she asked. Blaise grinned. He leaned forward so that his face was inches from hers, brushing some of her red hair away from her face, causing a blush from Ginny._

"_Shhh, Pet. Soon. Very soon." he replied. Ginny groaned. She looked towards Draco for an answer. When he offered her none, she messed up her face into a pout, causing a grin from Blaise and a strange reaction that Ginny had never seen before from Draco. She sighed discontentedly._

"_Well, can't you at least make him stop calling me 'Pet'?" she complained. Draco's lips were pulled into a smirk and a face that said something like 'what, are you kidding?' Ginny leaned back in her chair with a slight thump. "So… the ancestors of the witches and wizards are… the ancient gods?" _

"_Aphrodite, Ares, Zeus, Hermes. Of course, there's also my personal favorite, Eros." Blaise replied. Ginny looked confused._

"_Eros?" she asked him to explain._

"_The Greek god of sexual desire." Draco told her, staring over at Blaise. She looked back and forth between them for a few moments, not oblivious to the underlying… tension… being passed between the two._

"_Am I… missing something here?" she asked hesitantly. They looked at her curiously. "It's just… " Ginny didn't get a chance to finish her thought. Draco's face became more serious than it had a second ago, though Blaise appeared to be amused._

"_Pet!" Blaise exclaimed. "I knew you couldn't stay away. Dreaming about us, were you?"_

"_What are you…?" Ginny began to ask. Then she understood. "You're- you're inside my dream?" Blaise nodded._

"_You really shouldn't take all this stuff so seriously." he murmured, looking around. He looked down at himself. "But you seem to have remembered us perfectly." he commented, looking over at Draco. He grinned lecherously. "Perfectly, indeed."_

"_Not now." Draco told him. Blaise' face instantly deflated, like someone had just run over his puppy – not that Ginny understood what that term meant to any great extent._

"_So… what does Madame Pomphrey say?" Ginny asked, remembering the conversations she couldn't understand._

"_You're deaf." Draco told her. "There's nothing she can do."_

_Way to be blunt. It hit Ginny squarely between the eyes like a ton of bricks. She stared at Draco, feeling a knot in her stomach begin to wrench._

"_Bu- but, I can hear you now." Ginny stumbled. "And… and what am I supposed to do? I can't go through life without being able to hear." _

"_They're calling for a wizard who can treat it." Draco said. "But… there is another way." That caught Ginny's attention. She raised her right eyebrow._

"_Another way?"_

"_What happened before you couldn't hear?" Blaise asked. Ginny turned to him, clenching her eyes closed and trying to remember._

"_I-… I couldn't sleep. I was walking through a hall." she replied._

"_Nothing else?"_

"_I remember hearing someone screaming, but I was the only one who noticed." she told them. "What does that mean?" Blaise looked to Draco._

"_Did it say anything?" Draco asked. Ginny sighed. She hated being kept out of the loop._

"_No. It just called out my name." she told them._

"_Banshee." Draco said simply. Ginny laughed._

"_Wait, there's a banshee in Hogwarts?"_

"_It's not like it hasn't happened before." Blaise commented. _

"_You're serious?" she asked. "I had a banshee following me? But… that doesn't make any sense." Ginny looked back and forth between Draco and Blaise before heavy sighing. "Great, just great. Well, then, what about my hearing?" Draco smirked._

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Ginny opened her eyes and squinted at the light. It was too bright, far too bright, for a person who just woke up. She groaned. Her head throbbed, almost as badly as it had earlier. At least her eardrums didn't feel like there'd been a small nuclear explosion inside her head.

"Morning Pet. I'm sure you dreamt well." she heard Blaise say. She turned her head to look at him.

"You're too chipper." Ginny remarked dryly. Blaise grinned.

"Funny. Draco said the thing when we woke this morning."

Ginny might've been shocked at what that meant, if she hadn't spent the more than five hours with the pair. She had learned very early on that most everything Blaise said was total crap, and to listen to Draco more – he seemed to be the more informative, stoic one of the two. In other words, he was the least likely to pull a prank on her nowadays. Whoa, now there's a thought Ron, Harry, and Hermione shouldn't hear. They would probably die of shock. Besides, Blaise was probably lying.

_That's what you think…_

"What was that?" Ginny jumped. Blaise laughed.

"So?" Blaise inquired. Ginny glared at him.

"What are you going to tell Madame Pomphrey about suddenly being able to hear again?" Ginny asked. Blaise shrugged.

"I'm sure you'll come up with something." he replied, grinning like a fool.

"You've got to be kidding." Ginny declared. Blaise simply continued grinning as he stood up in his chair and headed toward the door. He opened it and turned to look back at her before leaving.

"Believe me, Pet. You've got bigger things to deal with Madame Pomphrey." he told her. He left. Ginny stared after him.

"Great. That's not very comforting." she said to herself. She closed her eyes again and relaxed. For the moment, everything was quiet.

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"How do you think she'll do?"

"Once she learns control?" Blaise asked. "Excellent." Draco nodded. "You need to relax, Love." Blaise told him, beginning to massage his back. Draco smirked.

"You're trying to seduce me."

"Is that a complaint?" Blaise asked, though he already knew the answer was no. Draco grinned.

"What about Potter?" Draco thought. "He will have to be disposed of."

"Soon, Love. Soon."

**A/N**: Okay, so it's not any longer than the last chapter, I don't think. Don't worry, they'll get longer. I promise. I'm working on it.  
So… do I have you wanting to murder me for leaving off here? MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! I hope so. That's a good sign. Remember to review, I'll get chapter… whatever it is… up next week. (grins demonically) I've got some good plot twists for this.


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